Psychological Wellbeing in Older-Adult University Learning: A Pilot Study and Simulation-Based Planning Analysis

Older-adult university programmes are often described as contexts for active ageing, lifelong learning, social participation, and personal development. However, empirical work in these settings frequently faces a methodological problem: real cohorts are small, locally situated, and unsuitable for strong confirmatory claims. This exploratory pilot study examines psychological wellbeing and affective profiles in an observed sample of older-adult university learners. The analyzable dataset included 66 participants from older-adult university programmes in Spain. The survey included Ryff psychological wellbeing items and PANAS affect items. Analyses were restricted to descriptive estimation, internal reliability, Spearman associations, bootstrap confidence intervals, and prospective sample-size planning for future research. Results showed a generally high eudaimonic wellbeing profile. Purpose in life and environmental mastery showed the highest descriptive scores, and positive affect exceeded negative affect. The Ryff total score showed strong internal reliability, while several subscales showed only moderate reliability and therefore require cautious interpretation. Prospective planning indicated that larger samples would be required for confirmatory small-to-moderate effects. The study does not claim programme effectiveness, psychometric validation, or population representativeness. Its contribution is methodological and interpretive: it shows how small older-adult learning datasets can be reported transparently without inflating the empirical sample or overstating inferential reach.